Help! Cory catfishes turning white and dying!

[Finatic005]

Hello,

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Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 20GL
How long has the tank been running? Idk like a year
Does it have a filter? Yes (one canister, two sponge)
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 73-75 (although we are experiencing a heat wave so it is about 82°F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? 2 corys (the other one died), 8 minnows, a lot of guppies and endlers, 4 mystery snails, two nerites, three amano shrimp
(Please list all fish and inverts.)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? It has a strong denitrification process, so about once a month
How much of the water do you change? About 75%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime, stability, and or pristine
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API MASTER test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
pH:7.4-7.8 (hard to tell with color scale provided by API)

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a night
How much do you feed your fish? I sprinkle in flakes and once they finish eating those I do another sprinkle for about 2 mins
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Tetra, omega one
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
Rarely



Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? I think 6 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 5 minutes
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? White coloration none others yet
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No cause I don’t know what it is
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Yes it’s gone white (all of these catfish are albino, but they are never pure white, usually off-white but this one is starting to get white as paper)

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

Just about two weeks ago, one Of my corys turned white and died. I thought it was due to weak genetics and I didn’t think anything of it. Now another one is starting to turn whiter and still seems active tho. The only symptom so far is the color change. This is what happened to the other one. Any help would be great thanks!

 

[Finatic005]

I’ve just noticed a red splotch near it’s analfin

 

[Finatic005]

Now it’s just swimming and staying in one spot vertically on the glass

 

[phnx314]

They might be turning white due to stress. That large of a temp change can stress a fish enough to kill it. Pictures may help.

 

[Finatic005]

They might be turning white due to stress. That large of a temp change can stress a fish enough to kill it. Pictures may help.

Hmm ok. The snails have been laying on their backs and in their shells which I’m pretty sure is due to the heat.
It’s hard to see on camera, but the bottom picture is of the normal looking one. The top one is much whiter and on the right side near the tail is a red splotch. It’s just been swimming right there.

 

[Finatic005]

I’ve just placed a bag filled with RO water in the fridge. I’ll wait for it to cool down and then I’ll put it in the tank to try to drop the temperature gradually

 

[jake37]

I have no clue what you are saying about temp. you said hte tank was 73. Then you said there was a heatwave and it is 82. How fast did the temp change. How often do you do a 75% water change. Is the temp of the water you add to the tank the same temp as the water in the tank. Did this happen just after a water change ?

 

[jake37]

What kind of water is in the tank? RO water will change hte chemistry? Also putting COLD water in a HOT tank means that there will be a sharp change in water temp where it enters. This is not a good idea. You need a stable temp. 82 is quite warm for your fishes but it won't kill them if it is for a week or two. COLD water hitting them will shock them.

I’ve just placed a bag filled with RO water in the fridge. I’ll wait for it to cool down and then I’ll put it in the tank to try to drop the temperature gradually

 

[Finatic005]

I have no clue what you are saying about temp. you said hte tank was 73. Then you said there was a heatwave and it is 82. How fast did the temp change. How often do you do a 75% water change. Is the temp of the water you add to the tank the same temp as the water in the tank. Did this happen just after a water change ?

the temp is supposed to be 73. Right now there is a heatwave so the temp is 82. I can do very little about that since I don’t have AC. The temp rose gradually due to air temperature. I think I said up there that I do it every 4 weeks, but that’s because I have a denitrification process. My nitrates are always zero so I wc to replace minerals. I always make the temp of my wc water 73. I use an infrared thermometer.

What kind of water is in the tank? RO water will change hte chemistry? Also putting COLD water in a HOT tank means that there will be a sharp change in water temp where it enters. This is not a good idea. You need a stable temp. 82 is quite warm for your fishes but it won't kill them if it is for a week or two. COLD water hitting them will shock them.

Look, I mean I’m gonna place the bag into the tank. I know to not shock them. I will not be pouring any water into the tank

 

[Skittles]

I’m sorry about your cory passing! Now I have no idea if this could cause such drastic changes but have you been leaving your light off because of the heatwave? As some fish can lose their pigmentations if they aren’t getting enough light. That’s really the only thing I can think of.

Are they getting enough to eat?
Are there hiding places? Anything that may be causing them stress? I know corys like being in groups of 5+ if you can get a few more that might help?

Hope you manage to help the little guy!

 

[Fishcat]

Could you explain your denitrification process? I’m sort of curious.

 

[Finatic005]

I’m sorry about your cory passing! Now I have no idea if this could cause such drastic changes but have you been leaving your light off because of the heatwave? As some fish can lose their pigmentations if they aren’t getting enough light. That’s really the only thing I can think of.

Are they getting enough to eat?
Are there hiding places? Anything that may be causing them stress? I know corys like being in groups of 5+ if you can get a few more that might help?

Hope you manage to help the little guy!

I’ve been leaving the light on. It doesn’t put off too much heat. The weather is starting to cool down now so that should help. I came back after being gone for a day and unfortunately the other catfish passed away. The last one remaining looks healthy and I am wondering what I should to. I am worried that it is a disease? Is there anyway to tell? If it’s not a disease I would like to get 4 more corys as quickly as possible to help with the stress of not having other corys to be with. But I wouldn’t have time to quarantine the new catfish because of the stress the other catfish would go through without others. Please help with this! I have no idea what to do! I’m upset because another one of the mystery snails died and I’m pretty sure it’s due to the heat as well. I’m worried about everything dying because I take care of the tank and the toxins are all under control... I have no idea what’s going on... There are plenty of hiding spaces and they were fat up until they died. Again I would get more, but I’m not sure if it is disease or stress? Thanks for any help!

 

[Finatic005]

Could you explain your denitrification process? I’m sort of curious.

Sorry, I have just seen this now. It honestly couldn't be easier to set this up. I just use an extra thick layer of substrate (4-5 inches) made up of about 1 part fluval stratum and 1 part black sand. This makes it deep enough so the anaerobic bacteria can thrive consuming nitrates. They turn it into nitrogen gas. I aerate the tank with two sponge filters because Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is also released by the bacteria. The oxygen that is dissolved into the water by the sponge filters neutralizes the h2s.